Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Agriculture, livestock and food · Costa Rica · 2019

Fresh Del Monte closure of four Costa Rica banana farms

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 8 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Why did black sigatoka become hard to control?
  • Company or project Fresh Del Monte: Attributed 16 of 23 percentage points of the production fall to sigatoka and 7 to weather (its own calculation), and said it had repeatedly asked for approval of new fungicides. Fresh Del Monte
  • Researchers Wageningen study: Black sigatoka develops resistance quickly under intensive spraying; samples from unsprayed farms stayed susceptible (a single study). PubMed Central

On 5 May 2026 Fresh Del Monte announced the closure of four banana farms in Limón province, Costa Rica, covering about 1,200 hectares and more than 850 workers. The company cited currency, plant disease, climate and cost factors.

4 farms, about 1,200 haBanana farms closed in Limón
Company announcement of 5 May 2026, as reported in the press; the closed area is about 3% of the company's Costa Rica operation by the company's own statement.

Status As of October 2026: four banana farms closed since 5 May 2026; future use of the land and severance terms not on record; no court case found.

What?
Fresh Del Monte closed four banana farms in Limón province, Costa Rica, in May 2026. FreshFruitPortal
Where?
Limón province, Costa Rica; the company's pineapple operations in Osa and Guácimo are discussed separately. FreshFruitPortal
When?
Announced 5 May 2026. FreshFruitPortal
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • More than 850 workers (sources give 800 to 900) who lost their jobs — Employment CRHoy
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The company cited currency appreciation, black sigatoka, TR4 precautions, climate variability and input costs; its SEC filing cited low profitability and declining production. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC
How?
Closure of four farms of about 1,200 ha in total, with dismissal of more than 850 workers and a recorded exit cost of $10.6 million. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 5 May 2026 Fresh Del Monte announced that it was closing four banana farms in Limón province, Costa Rica. The press reported the area as about 1,200 hectares and the number of affected workers as more than 850; sources gave a range of 800 to 900. The company said the closed farms were about 3% of its operation in the country. It did not leave Costa Rica: its pineapple operation was outside the decision, and a new packing facility was reported to have opened in October 2026.

The announcement listed several reasons: a rise in the value of the Costa Rican colón from about ¢700 to ¢450, black sigatoka (a fungal leaf disease of banana), precautions against Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4), climate variability and input costs. TR4 had not been reported in Costa Rica; a sector body said the country was free of it, and no official confirmation was found. The company said it had repeatedly asked for approval of new sigatoka fungicides. A spokesperson said the decision was not a response to a productivity problem or a demand problem.

The company's quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission recorded the closure of four farms and an exit cost of $10.6 million. It gave the reason as low profitability and declining production, and did not mention the exchange rate. In an earlier company document the company said its Costa Rica production had fallen 23% by May 2025, of which 7 percentage points were due to weather and 16 to sigatoka.

Research cited in the record describes black sigatoka as developing resistance quickly under intensive spraying, with samples from unsprayed farms remaining susceptible. Banana plantations rely on a single clone, which research on the crop describes as a vulnerability to disease. The company texts reviewed (press announcement, the SEC filing and 2025 investor material) do not refer to monoculture, to the clonal uniformity of the banana variety, or to resistance linked to spraying intensity.

Separately, an environmental permit for a Del Monte pineapple project of about 600 hectares in Osa, near the Térraba-Sierpe wetland, was withdrawn in 2019. In 2026 communities in Guácimo said the same company was preparing to convert more than 400 hectares to pineapple and warned of effects on water sources and a biological corridor. No company statement on the Guácimo claim was found. The future use of the closed 1,200 hectares and the terms of severance pay were not on record; a member of the legislature proposed transferring the farms to cooperatives.

  1. 2019Environmental viability withdrawn for a Del Monte pineapple project of about 600 ha in Osa, near the Térraba-Sierpe wetland
  2. 2025Company reports Costa Rica production down 23% by May 2025 (7 points weather, 16 points sigatoka)
  3. 20265 May: four banana farms in Limón announced closed (about 1,200 ha, more than 850 workers). June: communities in Guácimo warn of a pineapple expansion of more than 400 ha. SEC filing records a $10.6 million exit cost. October: new pineapple packing facility reported opened

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

What was the main reason for closing the farms?
Company or project
Fresh Del Monte (announcement)

Cited the rise of the colón from about ¢700 to ¢450, black sigatoka, TR4 precautions, climate variability and input costs.

FreshFruitPortal
Company or project
Fresh Del Monte (SEC filing)

Gave the reason as low profitability and declining production; the filing does not mention the exchange rate.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC
Why did black sigatoka become hard to control?
Company or project
Fresh Del Monte

Attributed 16 of 23 percentage points of the production fall to sigatoka and 7 to weather (its own calculation), and said it had repeatedly asked for approval of new fungicides.

Fresh Del Monte
Researchers
Wageningen study

Black sigatoka develops resistance quickly under intensive spraying; samples from unsprayed farms stayed susceptible (a single study).

PubMed Central

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The closure is not a response to a productivity problem or a demand problem (paraphrase of a spokesperson's statement, originally in Spanish).
    Fresh Del Monte spokesperson · FreshFruitPortal
  • Reasons for the closure: colón appreciation, black sigatoka, TR4 precautions, climate variability and input costs; repeated requests for approval of new sigatoka fungicides.
    Fresh Del Monte, announcement of 5 May 2026 · FreshFruitPortal
  • Closure reason: low profitability and declining production.
    Fresh Del Monte, SEC quarterly filing 2026 · Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC

Recorded

  • Four banana farms in Limón closed; about 1,200 ha; more than 850 workers (sources give 800 to 900); about 3% of the company's operation in the country (company statement).
    FreshFruitPortal
  • Exit cost of $10.6 million recorded in the company's SEC quarterly filing; the filing does not mention the exchange rate.
    Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC
  • Company reports Costa Rica production down 23% by May 2025, split by the company into 7 points weather and 16 points sigatoka; no independent confirmation.
    Fresh Del Monte
  • Black sigatoka developed resistance quickly under intensive spraying; samples from unsprayed farms stayed susceptible (a single study).
    PubMed Central
  • Environmental permit for a Del Monte pineapple project of about 600 ha in Osa, near the Térraba-Sierpe wetland, withdrawn in 2019.
    Delfino
  • Communities in Guácimo said in 2026 that the company was preparing to convert more than 400 ha to pineapple.
    Delfino

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Exit cost recorded by Fresh Del Monte for the four closed farms (SEC quarterly filing)$11m
Currency: USD · Window: 2026. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • fresh-del-monte (5 May 2026): Said the closure of the four farms did not respond to a productivity or demand problem, and cited currency, black sigatoka, TR4 precautions, climate variability and input costs; said it had repeatedly asked for approval of new sigatoka fungicides. · FreshFruitPortal
  • fresh-del-monte (2026): In its SEC quarterly filing gave the reason for the closures as low profitability and declining production. · Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Area of banana farms closed
About 1,200 ha
Four farms in Limón, 5 May 2026; about 3% of the company's Costa Rica operation (company statement)
Production loss attributed to disease and weather
23%
Company figure to May 2025: 7 points weather, 16 points sigatoka; no independent confirmation
Independent ecological evaluation
None found
No source reviewed assesses environmental effects of the closure or of the land's future use

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
  • Disputed Why did black sigatoka become hard to control?

Court

Accounts

  • Disputed What was the main reason for closing the farms?

Record

  • None on record The future use of the closed 1,200 ha is not on record in the sources reviewed.
  • None on record The terms of severance pay for the dismissed workers are not on record.
  • None on record No official confirmation was found that Costa Rica is free of TR4; this is stated by a sector body.
  • None on record The split of the 23% production fall into weather (7 points) and sigatoka (16 points) is the company's own calculation; no independent confirmation was found.
  • None on record The company texts reviewed do not address monoculture or the clonal uniformity of the crop; the company's full set of texts was not reviewed.
  • None on record No company statement on the Guácimo pineapple expansion claim was found.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the companywide figures on the share of operations closed (about 3%) come from the company only.
  • None on record No court case relating to the closure was found.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed record no environmental change attributed to the closure, and the use of the closed land is not on record. The pineapple operation continued, and a new packing facility was reported opened in October 2026.

Who paid?

Workers: more than 850 lost their jobs (sources give 800 to 900). The company recorded a $10.6 million exit cost.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Company or project

  1. Quarterly report (Form 10-Q)
    Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., filed with the US SEC · 2026-06

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

Researchers

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
Wetland
Land that is saturated or covered with water for long periods, such as marshes, swamps and peat bogs.

Institutions

SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates securities markets and what companies tell investors.
Similar cases
Agriculture, livestock and food · Water use · Chemical pollution · Protected area / relocation · Netherlands · 1990–2026
Dutch nitrogen crisis and farm buyouts
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodHarm to nature disputedHarm to nature not measured
Agriculture, livestock and food · Brazil · 2018
Cargill IBAMA fine (Brazil)
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
Agriculture, livestock and food · Brazil · 2019–2026
EU mirror measure on antimicrobials and Brazil beef exclusion
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
Agriculture, livestock and food · Brazil · date not stated
Green tobacco sickness in Rio Grande do Sul and tobacco curing deforestation
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
Agriculture, livestock and food · Water use · Mexico · 2001–2026
Mexico avocado: US inspection suspensions and Michoacán deforestation
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature disputed
Agriculture, livestock and food · Italy · 1962
CIHEAM Bari and Italian state funding
Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodHarm to nature disputedHarm to nature not measured